After the August of 1627
by KokushibyouOni
Summary: In the August of 1627 at least 1,400 English children and young adults were caputered and transported against their will to work as indentured servants. One such was a young girl named Serena...
1. The Ship

I sat. Correct that. I was in a sitting position but I got no  
  
comfort or a sense of eased rest when I did it. Why? Well I have no  
  
idea since I was on a comfortable pleasure trip on a most beautiful  
  
and spacious yacht. Where you get served wonderful four course  
  
meals five times a day, cooked by an expert chef who was trained in  
  
Italy and France to cook the most tasty of delicacies. Myself wearing  
  
only the finest of silk clothing imported from the orient and with a  
  
room so big it would be considered a castle within itself. But even  
  
though I had the room to myself, when I chose to leave it, people,  
  
both gentlemen and ladies alike, of only the highest of the high class  
  
would instantly surround me. And the beautiful rhythmic rocking of  
  
the boat sent me gently drifting to sleep each night after a day of  
  
sunshine and salty sea spray.  
  
Ok, maybe not exactly. 'Wonderful four course meals five  
  
times a day'? Try a bit of stale hard biscuit and a cup of room  
  
temperature water once a day if you're lucky.  
  
A chef train in Italy and France? What about a bucket full of water, and a small rotten barrel of biscuits?  
  
Wearing 'only the finest silk clothing imported form the Orient'? I don't think that the clothing I'm wearing even passes for clothing. And it most certainly hasn't ever been farther then my skin, much less the continent of England. Well except for possibly now, and I have the suspicion that England's no more a continent that I am.  
  
A room so big it's considered a castle?  
  
Well, it's a pretty good size... but not much of a castle from anyone's view.. Well maybe a mouse, But it'd be a whole lot bigger if it wasn't stuffed to the breaking point with people.  
  
Gentlemen? Ladies? High class? How about not. The highest this class gets, is when they spit and make an effort not to hit you in the eye, not that they succeed 'cause it hits anyway. Besides that, it's harder to tell which is dirtier, their skin and clothes, or their mouths.  
  
Rhythmic rocking.. Well that's a nice one isn't it? More like the leaping this boat does from wave crest to wave crest... which most CERTAINLY doesn't let you sleep and... well... seasickness is BAD.  
  
Sunshine and Sea spray?  
  
Haven't seen hide or tail of either since I was put on this cursed boat, may it sink to the bottom of the ocean and burn in Hades. After I'm  
  
off preferably...  
  
Comfortable?  
  
Now I feel like laughing, something I haven't in a long time. Why? Oh yes...  
  
Why don't I feel relaxed and rested in this sitting position?  
  
Well, would you if you were chained by wrists and ankles to the bottom of a boat? Especially surrounded by hundreds of men women and children all sharing your fate? With a miserable torn, patched, muddy, thin and ragged dress to keep you warm in a VERY cold boat? With all this body heat you'd think we' be sweating!  
  
Well since the rats are so big, when they start coming out and crawling on us again I might be a little warmer...  
  
Oh. here are the rats. Right on schedule.  
  
.I'm so hungry...  
...I wonder how they taste.  
  
Now in case your wondering.. ^.^ yes. This was re-done from when it was originally posted 05-28-02. I've given it spaces that were badly needed. ^.^ I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. I'm actually working on it... ^.^ I just thought I'd like to clean up this chapter a bit first. SO! Here you have it.  
  
By the way.. no ~.~ I don't own Sailor Moon. 


	2. An old friend found in an unlikely place

Like for the previous chapter, this one I touched up a bit. ^.^ Thanks!  
  
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" 'A! Bloody 'ell! Will ye shut your bleepn' trap! I's be tryn' ta sleep!"  
  
"Ach! Ye shut up!" replied a very heavily accented Irish voice.  
  
"w'at ye say to me?" yelled the first voice again  
  
"Are ye deaf an' dimwitted?"  
  
The sound of chains clanking was heard throughout the cargo hold of the ship.  
  
Almost as if someone were straining all their might against it.  
  
Blast it all! Another fight. And it woke me up. better take care of this. "WILL  
  
YOU ALL SHUT THE BLO'Y HELL UP!!"  
  
Silence.  
  
MUCH better. I'd thought that since these men haven't had a drop of rum in  
  
weeks, the fighting would stop. What a fool I was, that only makes them more  
  
disagreeable. BUT I'll be darned if they wake me up again! It's hard enough going to  
  
sleep with all these blasted waves all the time, and the sound of drunken sailors partying  
  
above us on the second level.  
  
Well, no use in trying to go back to sleep. I started to stretch only to have my  
  
arms pulled short by the darn chains and the shackles got tighter. If that was even  
  
possible... I quickly dropped my arms and rubbed my wrists a bit. I closed my eyes and  
  
started muttering to my self on what I'd like to do with those chains.  
  
"Well! Som'uns in a disagreeable mood t'day!" Said a voice near me.  
  
I opened my eyes a bit to glare at them, whoever they were. And saw a pair of  
  
stunning green-blue eyes that looked familiar..  
  
"Who're you?" I asked. Ok, So I wasn't too polite about it, but I wasn't in the  
  
mood to waist my time and patience on trying to be polite. "You didn' sit next ta me  
  
yesterdai'." I stated.  
  
Those eyes blinked and gosh darn it if it didn't get me a bit ticked. Then. The  
  
oddest sound came. puzzled about it for a sec. then...  
  
"WHA'RE YOU BLO'Y LAUFING ABOUT!!" I glared and yelled at this  
  
annoying person.  
  
The laughing sound continued with this girl, for it was a girl, trying to calm down  
  
and stop. Although in MY opinion she didn't try hard enough at all. And all she  
  
succeeded at doing, was getting me even MORE ticked off. I couldn't' believe my  
  
horrible luck.  
  
First: To get caught and thrown on this darn ship in the first place  
  
Then: to get shackled and bound  
  
And: to have to put up with all the same people day after day unless they didn't  
  
make it and were thrown overboard to the fishes.  
  
I though at that one point for a while. I personally stopped keeping track on how  
  
many times the sailors would come down a day to find someone who had died either from  
  
starvation, disease, or some other horrible event. And then to just unshackle them,  
  
sometimes taking off their clothes, and tossing them overboard with no emotion at all. If  
  
you were lucky they might pray a few words if they remembered.  
  
Then my thoughts turned to what kept me up the first night on this blasted ship. It  
  
was the screams of the woman who sat across from me. Her young baby had died and not  
  
more then seven months old was he.. The Sailors couldn't take the babies empty shell  
  
of a body away from her. She just clutched the body to her and rocked back and forth  
  
screaming. For 2 days she just continued this behavior, she even convinced herself he  
  
was only sleeping. Finally after those 2 days. Well, she didn't live much longer herself.  
  
She realized the lie she was telling herself.. and used the chains in her own way...  
  
Those were the first two deaths on this cursed ship. They 'buried' them together.  
  
The sailors were touched. or probably just drunk,. anyway. They sang burial hymns  
  
for the mother and child all through the night.  
  
I was snapped out of my thoughts with a hand touching me. I almost jumped out  
  
of my skin.  
  
I turned my head to see that young girl looking at me.  
  
"err. Ye okae?" She asked leaning over towards me as much as her own chains  
  
allowed.  
  
I grunted. "Ye still 'ere?" I asked annoyed.  
  
She giggled. ACTUALLY giggled as a response.  
  
I raised my eyebrow. "Either, ye tell me whare ye got th' rum tha' made ye so  
  
gigglish. Or a'm Goonna slo'ly skin ye alive using my long toe nails." I told her half  
  
groggily wishing my sleep wasn't taken away from me, and only half knowing I was  
  
talking at all.  
  
Only to be met by a quickly hid giggle.  
  
"Aye dinnea have 'ny rum! An seeing as aye nae likely ta get 'ny soon, cannae  
  
share." She laughed out  
  
"Well then... Shut. Th'. Blo'y. Hell. Up. An. Leave. Me. Alone." I pronounced  
  
slowly and deliberately so she couldn't miss the message.  
  
"Hmm.." She made the sound slowly. "Well. See'ing as ye an aye 're goonae  
  
spend sum time t'gether, we might as well introduce ourselves, eh?"  
  
"I thought I said, I want'd ta be left alone." I turned as far away from her as I  
  
could, seeing as the chains got in the way and all. I promptly resumed my semi-silent  
  
mutterings about those chains in question.  
  
"ACH! Ye're a stuuborn 'un, nae mistaken tha." she continued. Finally an  
  
emotion besides her giggly, giddy-ness came through. A slightly exasperated tone started  
  
to wear the edge of her voice.  
  
"Well, I'll introduce me'self anyways. I'm Molly O'Connal. Pleasure ta meet ye."  
  
she said once again cheerfully.  
  
"Oh no, the ples'ures all mine." I started with a thick layer of dripping sarcasm  
  
when..  
  
"WAIT."  
  
She looked shocked and confused by my sudden outburst. She blinked and looked  
  
at me.  
  
"Did, .. did ya say.. Molly O'CONNAL?" I said slowly stretching the last  
  
name.  
  
She blinked again. "Aye.. tha's wha' I said.." She said slowly as though  
  
trying to figure out why that made me start.  
  
I looked her suspiciously.  
  
"Did. Did ya ever know a young girl who went by th' name of Serena? A small  
  
thing, with long dirty blonde 'air?"  
  
Her eyes widened.  
  
"AYE! I knew a lass such as she! Serena."  
  
"Maxwell!" we both finished at the same time. I turned my whole body to face  
  
her now.  
  
"Ye.ye dun happen te be tha lass. do ye?" She said her eyes still wide, a  
  
hopeful joyful smile creeping on her face.  
  
My dry lip creaked into an enormous smile.  
  
"MOLLY! MOLLY O'CONNAL! Of all th' beat up blo'y places ta see ya! What  
  
in the world 're ya doin' 'ere?" I said. A companionly grin plastered on my face, one only  
  
worn between old and good friends, friends who have been through a lot together. And a  
  
lot we DID go together.  
  
"The last thing I knew of ya. Well, it was when you just left London. Off to make  
  
your' better life." She nodded her head. We both smiled a bit sadly, remembering  
  
together the last time that we saw each other. The time we had to say goodbye.  
  
"Well, it's impossible fur a persun like you an me to make a better life." she  
  
laughed "Leavin' London ." she paused "Well. A bit went on o'course. But all-in-all."  
  
She gestured with her hands showing her shackles. Both on arm and leg.  
  
We both laughed. Bitterly.  
  
"An' why! Tha's sum'thin I could be askin' o'ye me'self!" She retorted. "WHY!  
  
Las' I heard of ye, why. Ye were still at the Maxwell house! 'elping out like a good lass  
  
tha we kno' ye ne'er were!" She laughed, with a teasing twinkle in those familiar eyes  
  
that I now can place.  
  
The Maxwell house. what memories..  
  
I must have wince. She must have seen the tears in my eyes. Must have noticed  
  
the pain on my face. Because she soon stopped laughing.  
  
"Serena. Wha's wrong?" Her voiced sounded worried. She tried to lean over,  
  
knowing Molly most likely trying to give me a hug, but the chains once again reminded  
  
us of their presence. "Wha' happened?" she continued.  
  
I coughed a bit, clearing my throat.  
  
"Nothing. Just,." I coughed again. "It's nothing."  
  
"Serena."  
  
She got no answer.  
  
"Serenity Maxwell."  
  
I looked at her shocked.  
  
Sh-she. she called me by Serenity. No-one EVER calls me by Serenity. And not  
  
just that. She said Maxwell too... and she said it with such a demanding tone. If you  
  
knew Molly even the slightest bit, you knew not to mess with her when she said your full  
  
name. OR when she used a demanding tone. And when they were COMBINED.. I  
  
actually shuddered.  
  
I looked up into her face, into those stunning eyes. The eyes that were looking  
  
into mine, revealing her worry and concern.  
  
"Serena," she started. "What happened to the Maxwell church(*). Why are you  
  
here."  
  
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(*) Anyone Gundam Wing fans? ^.~ I can't find words to explain that level of cool-ness If you are.  
  
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In case you didn't Notice I would like to point out two things.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ One: Molly's accent is Irish. Her last name is Irish. HEY! MOLLY'S  
  
IRISH! HEHE! ^.^; Sorry about that!!  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Two: Serena's accent only shows up when she's speaking, and not  
  
thinking as well. Why you might ask? BECAUSE IT'S HARD TO DO IT!  
  
Hehe! Sorry, once again I'll say it. I'm lazy.  
  
Thank you SO much for reading!!! Researching takes QUITE a lot of time, And I appreciate your reading it.  
~*~ KokushibyouOni ~*~ 


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